“And that, when you’re 13 and 14, makes you very self-conscious about yourself… And then suddenly, when the cast came off, I was looking around and I just didn’t feel good enough.”

Image caption Chris Evans says he became very self-conscious at a difficult time in his life

It was already a difficult time in his life, with his parents divorcing and stress building up over his upcoming exams.

Taking cues from his film star idols Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, who had “had everything worked out”, his intense daily exercise regime involved waking up at 05:00 to take his dog for a run up the mountain for an hour and a half.

This was followed by another hour-long work out and further long walks and training.

“Then I’d check myself out in the mirror – if I wasn’t happy with what I was doing, I would constantly just pick one exercise, for example bicep curls, and constantly do them until I was fatigued,” he said.

Mr Evans’s routine became so extreme that he ended up ripping his bicep muscles. He said he had to stop, and it came as a relief.